WSU’s Ron Matson named Kansas Professor of the Year

Wichita State University sociology professor Ron Matson has been named the 2011 Kansas Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Wichita State University sociology professor Ron Matson has been named the 2011 Kansas Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

The announcement was made today at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Matson was chosen from nearly 300 top professors in the United States. He is one of 27 state winners selected for the award.

Bill Bischoff, dean of WSU’s Fairmount College for Liberal Arts and Sciences, said this is one of the most prestigious awards honoring U.S. professors.

"This award recognizes the most outstanding undergraduate faculty in the country: those who excel as teachers and influence the lives and careers of their students," Bischoff said in a written statement from the university.

Matson began his teaching career as a teaching associate in the sociology department at the University of Colorado in 1966. In 1970 he became an assistant professor at Wichita State and has been associate professor since 1997. He is the chairman and undergraduate coordinator for the Department of Sociology.